Okay gang! Let's do another section here. I have a few more, but then we can cross a Mupp Adventure off; we're actually coming to the near end for 2 Ball and we can cross that off; AND there's maybe one more section on Desert Delay and I can cross THAT one off!
I still have Wedding Day Blues part I to finish, however it means we can head into the holidays (or next year) with a new Monday fic, which IIRC is...a Monday Marriage? Would you like to see that next? For the moment, let's get this puppy up and running! We have now caught up to where I'm at in writing!
Saturday morning, Kermit was surprised to wake up alone, especially seeing as it was still a little before 7:30am in the morning. Stretching, he sat up in bed, fully expecting to see the light on in the bathroom, but not seeing anything; he tried not to be worried, but of course he was. The last few days had proven Piggy was not acting like herself and the longer they stayed, the worse it seemed to be getting; he had always tried to get the diva to confide in him, with varying success, and she always seemed to want to hold things in rather than let them out.
Not that he could say anything – there were times he felt it was better for him to shoulder whatever doubts, stresses, or issues he came across so he wouldn’t be a burden; that of course never worked out well.
Kermit was afraid Piggy hadn’t truly accepted not only her mother’s death, but the sudden and surprising death of her youngest sister. He couldn’t imagine what might be going through her mind, but he just hoped she knew he – and the others – were there for her. That was why they were here in the first place.
Figuring he needed to find out where she was exactly, he left the warmth of the sheets and room and went to go find the diva. He didn’t need to look far because as soon as he walked out into the hallway, he could hear the muted voices and laughter coming from the kitchen, proving that at least a few of the house’s occupants were awake and moving around. Pushing open the door, Kermit was surprised, happily though, at the scene before him –
Nate, Ham, and Piggy were seated around the kitchen island, laughing at something the younger pig had said; there were plates sitting in front of each of them, with forks and the remnants of pie, if what the foil tin sitting there was any indication. “Hey Mitt,” came the greeting, coming from Ham who had seen him walk into the kitchen first.
“Morning,” he replied, sending them each a smile. “You three are up early.”
The trio looked at each other, small smiles on their faces. The hours had gone by so quickly it seemed, they hadn’t really thought to head back to bed after they were up; it had been several years since they had spent the night up with each other.
“Are we having pie for breakfast then?”
The siblings looked at the frog, who was in the midst of brewing a pot of coffee, before they looked down at their plates. That’s when the fun, jovial feeling in the kitchen turned to horror and dread.
“Oh no.”
Nate cursed.
“What?” Kermit asked, slightly alarmed at the way the group was acting. Seemingly going from laughing and joking with each other, the peace and calm of the morning had clearly been broken and it was distressing because the frog had no idea why or what had happened.
“Oh my God,” Ham moaned, as he quickly went to clean up their mess. “This is so bad.”
“Don’t panic, don’t panic,” Piggy was saying, helping her brothers clean up.
“What is going on!?”
“We just sat here and ate most…” Nate began, showing Kermit the near empty pie pan. “All of Grandma’s prize winning rhubarb pie.”
“She’s gonna kill us,” Ham said, grabbing the pie pan and heading to the trash can in order to dump it out. Piggy immediately stopped him, however.
“Are you crazy?” she asked, snatching the pan back. “You can’t throw this away. We have to take this with us, we have to destroy evidence!”
“How?”
Here, Piggy was at a loss for words, turning to look at her twin in panic. “Okay, okay, listen,” he told them. “We can fix this. We take the pan, we take my truck, and we head down to Roshenbach’s and we get a new pie.”
“Grandma is totally going to know that’s not her pie,” Ham said, giving his brother a look.
“But no one else will,” Nate commented. "And you’re assuming Grandma’s gonna have some pie. We’ll just pile her up with food and drink and she’ll be too stuffed to eat to pie. Everyone else is gonna rave about the pie and she’ll never know the difference. Or OR…we tell her everyone ate the pie yesterday and as her three favorite grandchildren, we went out and bought a new one.”
Pointing at her brother, Piggy replied, “I like that. Let’s go with that one.” Turning to look at the frog, she said, “Kermit, Kermit, I’m about to ask a really big favor from you.”
“You want me to cover for you,” he answered immediately.
“Please?” she asked, a desperate look on her face. “I’ll love you forever.”
“You’re gonna love me forever anyways,” he said, with a smile on his face. “Go and do your operative thing. I don’t know anything about this; I got up, made coffee, and was reading the paper. I know nothing about a pie.”
“You are the awesome!” Ham exclaimed, finishing up the dish cleaning with Nate and following his brother out of the kitchen. Piggy was right behind them, though she did pause to give the frog a kiss on the cheek as she passed him. The three quickly went about trying to get out of the house, even with Piggy grabbing some jeans and being told to just put them on in the car.
They would be having more company over that morning, with the idea that they might start to pack up some of Hortense’s belongings, as well as giving out the items she had left people in their will. The official reading wouldn’t be until much later, but Ida had already seen most of what would go to whom and in the time, she felt it was better to just address it when emotions weren’t so raw.
It was already near 8am when the three left, knowing that people would start arriving around ten, though they weren’t planning on serving anyone breakfast; it was to be the same time of gathering they had held yesterday, with a few snacks and treats, including that of Ida’s pie, which was the reason that eating the entirety of it was a very bad thing.
Within the time of the three siblings leaving, activity in the house began, with various members of the family returning. Sarah had asked Kermit if he had happened to have seen her husband, which he replied that yes, he had seen him and that he and his younger siblings had gone out to get a pie, which he knew nothing about.
“Which means to say, you know something about it,” she deduced, sending a smirk his way.
The frog went back to his paper, though he couldn’t lose the smile on his lips. “I don’t know anything about it.”
Just when the first hints of people were starting to show, around 9:30, the trio returned, walking through the door as though they hadn’t been planning on deceiving their grandmother about her pie. Piggy, who had only left in her sleepwear and with a pair of jeans, was now decked out in those jeans, as well as a University of Iowa Panthers sweatshirt that she had stolen from the back seat of Nate’s truck.
Ida saw them almost immediately and with grandmother-fu skills, knew instantly that something was up. “Where’ve you three been?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she took in their appearance. It was clear that Ham was still wearing the suit he had worn yesterday, while at least Nate looked as though he had gone home and changed. Maybe.
“And what’re you up to?”
“Nothing!” the three of them chorused.
“We just wanted to enjoy the crisp morning air, Grandma,” Nate replied, sending the elder pig a huge smile.
“Bull,” she retorted. “None of you have ever liked the cold and I know for sure you aren’t getting snow storms in that sunny state of yours, Piggy Lee.”
“Don’t you know the cold is good for your skin, Grandmama?” the diva said. “I was merely just introducing the concept to the boys, I figured…I dunno. Couldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t help, but it couldn’t hurt.”
“Ha, she’s all laughs, folks,” Ham said, chuckling while also giving his sister a slight elbow in the ribs. “Well, I think I’ll go into the kitchen and get some coffee. Why don’t you two come with me and I’ll make you each a cup.”
“Capital idea, little brother,” Nate said, hurrying both siblings into the kitchen. “Coffee is just what is needed on this cold, blistery day.”
Ida kept her eyes narrowed as she watched three of her grandchildren hurry into the kitchen, obviously hiding something between them. If she knew her grandchildren – and regardless of age, she definitely knew them – they’d manage to tip their hand before or during lunch; all she had to do was wait.
Saturday’s lunch was much more jovial than the day before, now that whatever issues were between the trio had seemingly been resolved. Some of the same guests from the day before came for lunch that day – these were mostly people who had been friends or who had known for Hortense and the family for a long time. For such a small town, it was surprising to see just how many people managed to come to both the funeral and both of these memorials and it seemed the Malines and Hogglesworths weren’t as tinged with the rage and anger that had been apparent the day before.
The crowd wasn’t as big this morning as it was yesterday, with at most twelve to fifteen people, along with the added seventeen family members. As before, the group discussed Hortense and what she had meant to them, with sympathies for those she had left behind, especially her children. It was clear that most knew Nate, who knew most of those assembled, while Piggy and Ham tried to remember some of the people that were coming up to them.
For the non-members of the family – not counting those who had known the sow before her death – it was interesting to learn more about this Hortense Maline Hogglesworth that wasn’t tinged with anger or resentment.
Hortense was the oldest of seven, the oldest girl out of six; unbeknownst to apparently her children, especially Piggy, Hortense had been a beauty queen in her past, winning several local pageants before becoming the runner up to Miss Iowa. Afterwards, she had met Pignatius Hogglesworth and the rest seemed to be history. However, it didn’t seem that was the complete history. Despite any animosity the elder Maline had between her siblings or children, her friends regarded her as a wonderful and giving woman.
Even Ida had nothing but praise for her eldest, though that did seem to ruffle the feathers of her other three children. But never let it be said that the elderly Maline didn’t see the reactions of her children, because for every praise she had for Hortense, she had an equal one for Hattie, Millie, and Ricky Lane. Lunch was spent laughing and trading stories about Hortense, though none of her children still couldn’t come up with any stories they wanted to share.
Of course lunch wouldn’t have been complete without Ida’s award winning pie, which unknown to her, was actually a replacement from her grandchildren. No one else seemed to notice the difference, but the pie’s original maker did and she was pretty sure she knew who the culprits were. After taking a bite, she turned her gaze on three of her eldest daughter’s children and asked, “Did you three eat my prize winning rhubarb pie?”
“No!”
“Cause this pie tastes like something you’d get from Roshenbach’s.”
Kermit had known Piggy had some acting ability, but he had always assumed she had taken classes; over the years he had known her, it was clear she had internal talent right from the beginning and now, he knew where she had gotten the training. Despite the fact that he himself had seen the aftermath of whatever late night snack meeting had happened between her and her brothers, the three of them actually looked as though they literally had no idea what Ida was talking about.
All three of their faces were blank, clearly stating that they neither of the pie or this place in which they thought a pie may have come. In fact, Ham even asked, “What is that?”
“Like a store or something, Grandma?” Piggy added.
Pointing her fork at each of them, Ida growled, “I can’t prove it, but when I do, you three aren’t gonna be able to sit down for a week. Mark my words.”
Maybe it was because they were adults or perhaps they didn’t think their grandmother had the ability or speed to catch all three of them, but the siblings continued to pretend they knew nothing about it and as far as they were concerned, there was nothing to trace anything back to them; they had even recreated the wrapping so it would look exactly as Piggy had found it earlier that morning.
The mystery of the missing pie notwithstanding, Saturday was a very quiet time within the home. Mourners made their way home in small chunks, with some staying to help with the clean up or to continue reminiscing; at some point, Ida had pulled out one of the photo albums that sat under the coffee table and began showing off some of their past photos. The intrigue of getting a look at their diva’s past was too much to ignore, so Gonzo, Kermit, and Fozzie found themselves on either side of Ida as she sat on the couch, looking over at the pictures from Piggy’s past.
Nate sat in the arm in the corner to their right, holding a now asleep Ellie, who had been the belle of the ball in terms of having most of the attention towards her. Sarah sat in the accompanying chair, listening to a story that Ricky Lane and John were in the middle of telling, while Eli was doing what most teens did when the excitement settled down; he had taken a seat on the floor and was currently either playing a video game or chatting with someone on his phone.
Piggy, who had been playing hostess towards the end, had finally settled herself to leaning on the back of the couch, looking over her grandmother’s shoulder.
Ham had occupied himself by gathering up some of the knickknacks that he had been his mother’s and were packing some things for both of his aunts and grandmother; he had set up a little area on the coffee table in front of Ida, seemingly trying not to pay attention to the walk down memory lane. “I haven’t seen some of these in years,” Ida replied, taking out a few images, glancing at them, and placing them back. “Oh, look at this!”
Handing the picture over to Gonzo, who sat next to her left, she pointed to the six younger piglets who stood in a variety of poses.
The image had been taken during the day, on the front porch, though it was clear that the house had been fairly new back then. Starting on the left, there was a teenaged pig who sat on the railing, brownish locks hung about her shoulders as she smiled at the camera; the next teen was clearly Nate, – sans beard - as he leaned against the rail post, dressed in a light blue football jersey; a younger Piggy was next, dressed in a light blue cheerleading uniform, her then brownish curls tied in a ponytail and also with a charming smile for the camera; another teen girl, though obviously younger than the previous two, stood next to her with a rather sweet and shy glance outward; Ham was next, though he stood on the porch proper, dressed up with a light blue bow tie and matching vest, and what appeared to be a tenor saxophone hanging from his neck; last was another brown eyed girl, this time dressed in the familiar light blue uniform for basketball, even holding one under her arm.
“That’s Virginia,” Ida continued, pointing to the girl on the far left. “There’s Nate in his football uniform. What did you play again, Junior?”
“I was the quarterback, Grandma,” came the response.
“That’s right,” Ida nodded. “And there’s Piggy -” Leaning over to look past Gonzo to Kermit, who sat on his other side, the matron tossed out, “Get a chance to see the cheerleader uniform, Frog?”
Attempting to hold down a blush at such a direct question, Kermit quipped, “I didn’t even know there was a uniform.”
“I don’t have it,” Piggy retorted, giving the frog – and weirdo – a look. “Before you ask.”
“More’s the pity.”
“That’s Roseleen,” Ida continued, pointing to the shy sister that stood in the middle with Piggy. “There’s Hammy. You always did look so good in your little concert suit.”
“I didn’t know you played,” Kermit said, looking at the younger male Hogglesworth, causing him to look up.
Startled by the comment, Ham awkwardly shrugged. “It was a long time ago,” he said. “I was okay at it.”
“Ham, I remember you being very good at it,” Piggy insisted. “In fact, didn’t you go to Des Moines for the state competition or something? In like, two different bands?”
“I…I did do the regional competition…”
“And state,” Nate piped up. “You were one of the best jazz sax players in the state, little brother.”
“Dude,” Gonzo chuckled. “How the heck do you go from brilliant musician to psychologist?”
It was a seemingly simple question but it just went about unsettling Ham, who began to fidget with the items he was going through. “Just…” he stumbled. “Just did.”
“Yeah but…”
Seeing her younger brother’s distress, Piggy laid a hand on Gonzo’s shoulder, preventing him from finishing his question. “Leave it,” she whispered.
“Sorry Ham,” the writer apologized. “Didn’t mean to get so personal on you.”
Sending him an embarrassed smile, the psychologist shook his head. “No worries.”
Hoping to bring the conversation back on track, though it wouldn’t be a happy one, Kermit pointed to the last figure in the picture. “I take it that’s Marjorie then?” he asked.
Ida smiled, sadly. “Yes,” she whispered. “Always full of energy, that girl. Loved her sports. Do you kids remember how many she did?”
It took a moment for the siblings to think, with Piggy coming up with, “Three? She had softball in the spring and then basketball in the fall…”
“And track,” Nate provided.
“That replaced tennis,” Ham added. “But that was during the summer, wasn’t it?”
“Hortense always complained she could barely keep up with you kids,” Ida chuckled, taking the picture and placing it back in its previous spot. “Between Nate’s football, Piggy’s cheerleading, Virgi’s own pageant wishes, Ro Ro’s science fairs, Marjie’s sports, and Ham’s music, it was a wonder she found any time to herself. Help would have been nice…”
The warmth that was there cooled by ten degrees as all three siblings turned annoyed or seething looks to their grandmother. It seemed clear that Ida Maline held no love for one Pignatius Hogglesworth, however it was unclear as to which sibling fell in to which camp on the matter. Ida suddenly made an amused snort before pulling out another image. “Speak of the devil…”
This image was in black and white, but the attractiveness of the male pig that looked back at them was undeniable - suave smile, with dark hair, and bright eyes staring back. The resemblance to the current Hogglesworth children was clear, though more with the boys in facial structure, such as the jaw, but that smile was one Kermit had seen nearly every day for several decades previously and saw on a daily basis now.
“Is that Pignatius, Senior?” Fozzie asked, leaning over to get a closer look.
“That’s Lee alright,” Ida said. “Everyone called him Lee; you can see we love our nicknames around here. Hold on, let me see if there’s a color one in here. Ah, here we are!”
Pulling out another image, this one in color, the three Muppets on the couch could better see the resemblance between father and children, especially with this particular picture. Lee was sitting down, handsome smile for the camera, while familiar blue eyes twinkled back; those same blue eyes were showcased in a younger, smaller Piggy, who stood by her father’s side. Both were dressed well, Lee in a dark suit with blue tie that matched his eyes, while Piggy was dressed in an adorable pink skirt.
“You can see where Nate and Piggy get those baby blues from,” Ida was saying, throwing another knowing look at Kermit. “I’d say beware those eyes, Mitt, but I got a feeling you know the trouble they cause.”
“There’s a reason she’s our entire marketing department,” Gonzo quipped.
“She’s the person we send in when we have executive meetings,” Fozzie added.
Piggy smirked at the joking, but her eyes were glued to that image. She had nearly forgotten how handsome her father had been; no wonder he always got attention from the opposite sex and those looks had certainly been inherited by her and the rest of her siblings. It wasn’t to say that Hortense hadn’t been a looker in her day – because she was! - and those genes had combined to produce attractive and probably deeply insecure children.
“You certainly were his little girl,” Ida sighed, glancing at the image. “You two were pretty young when he died, weren’t you?” The question was supposed to encompass the older set of twins, but it was noticeable by the set of Nate’s jaw and dark look on his face that he didn’t want to be a part of this conversation.
Clearing her throat, Piggy whispered, “We were seven, Grandma.”
Ham, whose interest had turned once the topic had turned to his father, reached over to view the image everyone was looking at. While he vaguely recognized his eldest sister, the man in the photo was a near stranger to him. “I don’t remember him,” he whispered, staring intently at the pig that was said to be his father.
“That’s because you were little more than a baby when he died,” Nate stated, though he didn’t make a move to take a look at the photo.
“You don’t have many pictures of your father, do you, Piggy Lee?”
She didn’t have any images of her father, but the diva was hard pressed to admit that. She wasn’t going to admit that after her father’s death, her mother had been so devastated that any picture of him at all had been taken down and put away. This was actually the first time in a very long time, probably since she was a child, that Piggy had seen her father’s face. “No I don’t,” she said, inwardly praising herself for keeping her voice as steady as it was.
Taking that very image back from Ham, Ida handed it over to her granddaughter. “Now you do,” she stated. “Nate, do you want one? I’m sure there’s in one in here of the two of you…”
“No,” came the reply and it was only tempered with a “No thank you, Grandma” after Sarah gave his hand a harsh squeeze.
Holding it up, Piggy announced, “I’m going to go put this away.” before heading towards the hall to her room.
She wasn’t sure what was happening, only that she needed to get out of there and she needed to get out of there fast. The sight of her father’s face, after so long, seemed to squeeze her heart like a vice and her grandmother’s comment just kept coming to mind – You certainly were his little girl.
With Mother gone, I’m no one’s little girl anymore.
And that’s when she started to cry. And not the crocodile tears she would sometimes use to get Kermit to agree to something nor was it the minimal crying when something hit her, but she was able to overcome it; no, these were tears of sorrow, which quickly turned into body wracking sobs. With both of her parents dead, she was quite literally an orphan; despite all the heartache they had caused, they were still her parents and she had loved them as much as any daughter could.
They were gone. And there was so much left unsaid between them. Piggy had only been a child when her father left and then was shortly killed in that ‘tractor incident’ that no one ever talked about or wanted to remember; even now, her adult mind could handle the actual story – her father had been run over by a tractor because of his inability to keep his hands off sows and piglets who weren’t his wife – but it didn’t mean she wanted to handle the actual story. The actual story meant her father was dead and never coming back.
What was the last thing she had said to him? Had it been something nice? Had it been “I love you, Daddy”? She couldn’t remember.
She knew the last words to her mother were said in anger; said being a relative term, as they had been shouted as she was storming off to her room. Her note, her runaway note, hadn’t been any been any better, calling Hortense a ‘conniving, uncaring, unfeeling manipulator who had driven her eldest daughter away the way she had driven away her husband’. In hindsight, that had been cruel, really really cruel, but she was eighteen and she had spent eleven years blaming her mother in part not only for her father leaving, but for his death too.
And now she would never have the chance to apologize, to say all the things she wanted, to try and understand why her mother did some of the things she did.
And then there was Marjie.
She had younger sisters, yes, but she only had one baby sister and that had been Marjie. Marjie had been energy and sun and laughter; if Marjie had been here, things might not have been so contentious, but she wasn’t and she wouldn’t ever. Just like her father, Piggy couldn’t remember the last conversation she had even had with her; had it been a positive or negative one? Had her baby sister felt the same way her baby brother did? Had she been hiding the pain of their childhood and other issues behind an outward mask?
What about Virgi and Ro? Were they even aware of their mother’s death, much less their sister’s? Piggy had just assumed they hadn’t wanted to be there, but she hadn’t exactly gotten a straight answer from Nate. What if, God forbid, something had happened to the two of them and next year, she would be summoned back here to stand over the grave of another sister?
It was very much her custom to keep everything bottled up and on occasion, lash out at the nearest target - usually Kermit - but she had never been so emotionally taxed like this before! Not even in the aftermath of breaking up with the frog and watching him date another woman so soon after; until this moment, she was sure that had been the worse things could possibly get, but this.
This was torture.
She didn’t know how long she had just stood by her bed, sobbing uncontrollably by herself, before she felt the familiar, slim arms of Kermit slip around her middle and just hold her while she cried.
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